CWSA not responsible for Green Hill housing delay – Saunders

If the calculations of Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) general manager Garth Saunders are correct, owners of houses under construction at the Green Hill housing development will not move into their homes any time before February 2015.

Saunders, in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, said that the CWSA would not{{more}} be able to begin installing pipe fittings at the new development before January next year, in an undertaking which could take up to six weeks.

He said that this information was relayed to the Housing and Land Development Corporation (HLDC) in a letter dated October 31, 2014, in response to one sent to CWSA on October 16, 2014.

Saunders told SEARCHLIGHT that, based on an article that has been circulating on the Internet, it was his understanding that at a meeting with homeowners on November 6, senior officials of the HLDC said that the project was further delayed because of CWSA’s inability to provide water to the homes.

One homeowner also confirmed to SEARCHLIGHT that during the meeting, the HLDC officials, who had previously indicated that the homes would have been ready as early as the end of November this year, said that the deadline would not be met because the CWSA is unable to supply pipe-borne water to the homes.

“The fact that homeowners are inconvenienced, that they cannot move into their homes for Christmas, that they cannot move into their homes on time, that they have to pay rent and mortgage at the same time; we at CWSA are concerned that the responsibility does not fall on the shoulders of CWSA,” the CWSA general manager noted.

“The longer it takes for them (HLDC) to respond, then the longer it is for us to begin work….”

Providing documentation and giving a timeline of correspondence between the two government entities concerning the supply of water, Saunders indicated that former HLDC manager Morris Slater had written to the CWSA in April 2012, requesting a cost estimate for supplying water.

In a response to the HLDC one month later, the CWSA informed HLDC that the overall cost of the pipe work would be $72,054.82, with the first phase costing $43,232.89.

“This cost includes material and installation of a section of the distribution main to the proposed site and the reticulation system for the lowest 21 lots of the development. Implementation of these works would be effected upon payment of the first phase cost,” the letter from the CWSA said.

Slater succumbed to cancer in January 2013, after a brief illness, following which former senator Elvis Charles took over as manager of the HLDC.

According to Saunders, it was not until another year and a half had elapsed after the first piece of correspondence that the HLDC contacted the CWSA in reference to the Green Hill project.

“We heard from them later in November 2013, asking us to provide a temporary water supply to facilitate construction. Since then, no communication until October this year, telling us that you want lines to be installed,” Saunders said.

In the October 16 letter, the HLDC informed the CWSA that the HLDC had extended its development of the Green Hill Housing Project Phase 4.

“We hereby request an extension of the supply waterlines to facilitate this new development as we are scheduled to hand over these houses soon,” the letter stated.

“Our present financial position does not allow us to meet the full cost of the proposed extension, however, we are kindly requesting that work be executed with an arrangement for payment at a later date,” the letter went on to state.

“You haven’t paid us, you haven’t told us ‘Boy I can’t pay….’ They made request for a payment arrangement and haven’t said what the arrangement is… but you ready for the people to move in, and the CWSA must just jump up and drop everything and move you in.

“We don’t operate like that,” the CWSA general manager said.

Non-payment aside, Saunders in his last correspondence pointed out that because of the high elevation of the new settlement, the source that supplies the lower areas cannot be used for the new homes, and providing water to the new houses would require extending a new transmission main from the CWSA’s source at Mamoon, situated just under Mount St Andrew.

“While we consider your request for a deferred and reduced payment, the CWSA will not be able to install the required pipelines before January 2015. This is due to current low stock levels of the required pipes and fittings, most of which are currently being installed at the Argyle airport site,” the letter also said.

Up to the time of the interview, Saunders said that the CWSA had not received a response from the HLDC on the way forward, and that lack of communication could cause a further delay in the project.

He said that the CWSA did not take kindly to the HLDC officials appearing to lay the blame for the delay on his company.

“They went and had a closed door meeting and berated me and CWSA and say we are holding up their project.

“….Don’t come at this last minute and make us out to be this inefficient company who are holding up a project, when you have not told us when you want it for and how much you are going to pay.

“We will do anything in our power to execute our part of the project in as quick a time as possible, in our usual way, and its just unfortunate that professionals cannot face up to the truth and speak the truth,” Saunders said. (JJ)